Confession of a Guardian
by Omille
Summary: Women didn't belong on the battlefield. But Juliet deceived the orders to stay back, and left the estate, dressed as a Redcoat, to attend the fight... to save the man she loved. That decision ended with having consequences, which she never got over...


Finally, it was over. The war against the militia was over … but at a heavy cost. Captain Bordon, Captain Wilkins, and many others of The Royal Green Dragoons did not survive, along with many from the militia, which of course not was important in this case. General Cornwallis and General O'Hara were not looking forward to having to write the long list of casualties. Little did they know that this certain day on the battlefield, the list was about to have one more added to it.

Juliet Anderson fell to her knees and closed her eyes in exhaustion and relief. It was over, though she'd lost her dearest friends. It was over, and she was alive. Despite that she had joined the battlefield dressed as a Redcoat, and her hair was hidden under her helmet, she was unharmed and alive.

She stood up and took off her helmet, letting her long hair falling down her back, before she began helping the other survivors find the injured and get them into the wagons, there would get them back to the encampment, where they would get helped. She walked over many bodies of soldiers and other commanders whom she didn't know. When she stepped around the body of Bordon and then over the body of Wilkins, the tears began to fall. She continued to walk and found no one alive until she tripped over a body which she thought was another corpse, but then the body groaned. She whirled around and knelt by it and found it to be somebody alive, but severely injured. The person was lying on its stomach, the head turned away from her, and when she carefully moved the person onto the back to see who it was, she was shocked. It was Colonel William Tavington! He had survived! She was happy at this thought, as he was the first person she knew that was alive.

On one side of his face, there was a stream of blood from an unseen cut on his head, and his uniform was torn and tattered. Juliet carefully went to hold him, an arm under his head by the neck and an arm looped under his back. His dark-brown almost black hair had loosened from the braid during the fight, so it hung down in his face. She brushed gently a lock of hair away, so she could see his face clearly and spoke.

"Colonel Tavington?" But she got no response. She tried again.

"Colonel, it's Juliet Anderson, can you hear me?" There was a short intake of vital breath, and Tavington's eyes fluttered open and his gaze fell on her.

"Miss Anderson?" His voice was raspy and soft, as though he couldn't breathe very well.

"Yes, Colonel. You're alive." She smiled a small smile with tears in her eyes.

"Did we win?" There was a gleam of hope in his eyes, even in a time like this all he could think about was if they had defeated the damn Rebels.

She smiled fully this time, and a tear streamed down her face. "Yes, Sir, it's over. We won. The militia is no more, we defeated them, all of them. You are no longer bounded by your vow, Sir."

He let out a small sigh of relief, closed his eyes for a second, then opened them, and looked directly at her. He wasn't sneering, and his eyes were weary as he spoke in a tired and hoarse voice.

"I wish I could agree with you, Miss Anderson."  
Her smile vanished to be replaced with a look of confusion and concern. Her eyebrows furrowed together, and when she spoke, her voice broke.

"Why?"

He sighed again and looked at her sadly.

"I won't be alive much longer to see the fulfilment of my vow. I'm dying."

"No! You're one of the few that survived! Colonel-"

She was quieted by a finger touching her lips.

"Miss Anderson, for once, please be quiet and listen to me. I need to tell you something of great importance before I die."

She was quiet for a minute as she looked at this man whom she had admired for so long. This man who had been her guardian for so long, the man that she trusted with her life and had worried about constantly, before the battle by Cowpens had arrived. She had prayed for his safe return each time he was called out on patrol. This man who she defended in front of her friends, there shuddered by just the sound of his name, and who she developed a secret but strong liking to, this man she … loved. The tears then began flowing freely, and she struggled to hold back a sob that eventually escaped her.

Tavington looked at her with confusion in his eyes. "Why do you weep over me, Miss Anderson? I would have thought you would be celebrating over my death."

That did it. Juliet collapsed on top of Tavington and buried her face in his chest as she sobbed. Tavington was shocked and awkwardly held her as she cried, until she suddenly shot up with defiance.

"How can you think like that, Colonel? I don't hate you! I care for you, Sir…"

Tavington looked at her in shock and then spoke. "Then why do you weep?"

"Because I don't want you to die."

Tavington sighed. "Miss Anderson … Juliet … I need to tell you something. Please listen carefully, because I don't have much time left."

She nodded and he continued.

"Ever since I got given the task of being your guardian the day you arrived to the estate, I have admired you. Then during your second year, this year now, that admiration grew into attraction, then from attraction to … to … damn it!" He closed his eyes and then opened them, looking directly into her ice-blue ones. "Juliet, to be perfectly honest, I love you. I'm sorry this is the way I have to tell you. I wish it wasn't." He gasped for breath as a shock of pain rushed through him.

Juliet held him and caressed his sweaty brow. She whispered quietly with tears running down her face. "And I love you, Co-William. Thank you for being my guardian."

He reached a hand up and caressed her cheek, and she leaned into his touch. He gently wiped away her tears with his thumb, before his hand fell weakly to his side as his strength began to leave him and his life neared its end. The last moments were full of silence, but words were not needed. As they stared into each other's eyes, they knew that all the last unspoken was said.

"Goodbye, Juliet. Take great care of yourself. My heart … is yours."

His eyes slipped shut, and Juliet felt his body became limp in her arms. By this Juliet broke down and wept uncontrollably over the body of the man she had dear, and she prayed to that he was in peace and not pain. She fell asleep with her head lying on his once warm chest, and she did not wake up until Generals Cornwallis and O'Hara found her the next morning, frozen almost to death. They shook her awake and gazed at her sadly and then at William' body, and then back to her in question. She shook her head, and the tears began to fall once more. Cornwallis pulled Juliet to her feet as O'Hara and a few soldiers got lifted William' body up into a wagon, where they covered him with a sheet for then going back towards the estate for the funeral on the graveyard, where only high appreciated Royal Green Dragoons got stayed to rest. A place he truly had deserved after his unlimited courage and efforts, and after having protected Juliet from so many dangers without thinking about himself first.

The funeral was a small and sad affair as Juliet, garbed in all black, watched the coffin with the body of the man she loved becoming lowered into the ground, returning to the earth. She didn't leave until dusk and before she left, she placed a single blood red rose upon the headstone. She did this for four years on the anniversary of his death. Then on the fifth year, she did not return to the estate at dusk as she usually did on this day. They found her lying on his grave, dead from the harsh cold of an early winter. They buried her next to him, and prayed for her to in peace with the man she loved.


End file.
